The gas station across El Camino Real from the old Tanforan Mall in San Bruno spent four years selling nothing but plant-based hot dogs, mushroom jerky and dairy-free soft serve alongside its fuel pumps. Now Hangry Planet, billed as North America's first fully plant-based gas-station convenience store, has changed hands in a deal that topped $12 million.
Founder Bobak Bakhtiari sold the San Bruno property and business for more than $12 million, according to CBS News, which first reported the sale. Brar Pacific Oil took over operations at the site effective May 11, according to Hangry Planet's own business site. The 1,500-square-foot facility sits at 1199 El Camino Real, where it opened in June 2022 on the footprint of what had been an active Shell station run by TBF Petroleum Inc., per Funcheap.
From Anger-Relief Worker to Vegan Retail Pioneer
Bakhtiari, a former psychiatric mental health worker and actor, took over his family's station and remade it after watching undercover investigations by Animal Recovery Mission and Animal Equality that exposed factory farming practices, according to Funcheap. It wasn't his first unconventional move at the pumps — back in June 2008, SFGate reported that Bakhtiari installed a gas-price stress-relief dunk tank, letting frustrated drivers dunk an employee dressed in Shell gear to vent about soaring fuel costs.
Every item stocked inside Hangry Planet was pre-vetted to be 100% plant-based, dairy-free and organic or sustainable, eliminating the need for shoppers to check ingredient labels, per the same account. The store's shelves included regional organic donuts, mushroom jerkies and dairy-free soft serve, and CBS News reports its menu extended to plant-based hot dogs, chips, breakfast sandwiches and soft serve for commuters grabbing a quick bite.
The transition wasn't seamless. Hangry Planet experienced a 20% initial sales decline after going fully plant-based, CBS News reports, before eventually posting a 30% sales increase as the concept found its footing. Bakhtiari told the outlet he believed a high-traffic convenience-store environment could help educate people and shift habits, and that he aimed to reach people who weren't already seeking out vegan food.
Loyal Customers Drove Out of Their Way
The store's appeal went beyond impulse buys. Regular customer Tyler MacNiven, a Bay Area restaurateur and filmmaker who won CBS's reality series The Amazing Race 9 in 2006, drives 20 minutes out of his way with his family to visit Hangry Planet at least twice a month, according to CBS News. MacNiven, who drives an electric car with his family, told the outlet a fully plant-based gas-station convenience store is unexpected but works well.
MacNiven and his wife, Kelly, eat mostly plant-based food themselves, though their three children still eat meat — a split the couple has made peace with. Kelly MacNiven said plant-based food does not automatically mean unprocessed, and per CBS News she said she's more concerned about the processing and antibiotic use associated with conventional beef. The couple said they want their children to know there are alternatives to meat, even as the kids make their own choices at the table.
Building a Destination Around the Pumps
To draw more than just gas-and-go traffic, Hangry Planet hosted the popular Bay Area food truck Vegan Mob on-site, serving plant-based barbecue and soul food right next to the fuel pumps, according to Atlas Obscura. Vegan Mob operated at the San Bruno location until May 2026 before relocating back to Oakland, per Hangry Planet's business site.
The property leaned into spectacle elsewhere, too. Atlas Obscura describes a 24-hour touch-free car wash equipped with six video projectors, an FM radio track at 90.1 FM airing environmental stories, and rooftop sculptures including a merman and an upside-down ice cream cone. The car wash also runs a water reclamation system that recycles more than 55% of its water, according to the same report.
Hangry Planet also built a social-impact model into its business, pledging 10% of monthly sales to charitable causes. The store donated more than $300,000 to humanitarian aid and schools through Moms Against Poverty, as well as to animal protection groups including Animal Equality and Animal Recovery Mission, according to Inhabitat.
A Maturing Market for Plant-Based Retail
The sale lands as the plant-based food category has grown substantially since Hangry Planet opened. Americans spent $3.9 billion on plant-based foods in 2017, according to the Good Food Institute, and that figure climbed to $7.9 billion in 2025 — roughly double, though dollar sales dipped 2% year-over-year that same year despite nearly 60% of American households buying plant-based products.
What Brar Pacific Oil plans to do with the site remains an open question. It's not yet clear whether the new operator intends to keep the store's fully plant-based inventory or its charitable-giving pledge, and how Hangry Planet's run might influence other independent gas station owners weighing similar alternative convenience-store formats.
